In the art of rivet attachment equipment or apparatus, for example, of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,534,896 and No. 4,578,846 the latter having an inventor common to the present application, it is common to move the workpieces or parts to be riveted together to a stationery riveting machine. Usually the machine is capable of drilling a hole within one or both of the parts and then inserting a rivet into the hole, after which the rivet is upset or swaged between upper and lower anvils pressed together by a hydraulic cylinder. The apparatus disclosed in the above mentioned '846 Patent also applies a liquid sealant prior to the swaging operation if it is also desired to have a fluid-tight seal between the parts and around the rivet.
It is sometimes necessary to attach parts with rivets and wherein it is not convenient to transfer the parts to a rivet machine. For example, in the attachment of the aluminum skin of an aircraft to aluminum frame components, ti is not uncommon for the hole drilling and rivet inserting and swaging operations to be performed by separate hand carried portable tools which perform the separate operations. For such rivet installations, it has been found desirable to provide a relatively small and compact portable rivet attachment tool or device which also has relatively light mass so that it may be easily and quickly moved by an operator or on the end of a robot arm or manipulator. It has also been found desirable for such a portable rivet attachment tool to be constructed for partial insertion into a small opening with in a workpiece, such as an aircraft door assembly, for installing and attaching rivets in an area close to the opening. With many rivet installations, it is further desirable for the tool or apparatus to incorporate a drilling head which automatically drills a hole within one or more of the parts to be attached prior to automatically inserting and swaging or upsetting a rivet within the hole.